


The Pleasures Of Jealousy

by Rose_Nebula



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Earth, F/M, Jealousy, OT3, alien clothes, girls-day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 17:04:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11063331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_Nebula/pseuds/Rose_Nebula
Summary: On a girls-only day with Donna, Rose finds herself the subject of malicious behaviour. When her Doctors find out, they are not pleased.





	The Pleasures Of Jealousy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TenRoseForeverandever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenRoseForeverandever/gifts).



> Thanks to the absolutely fantastic TenRoseForeverandever who helped so so much with this, to hanluvr for pointing things out, Mer3edes3 who helped me clean the first version and TimeLadyoftheSith and Kimmzie for having a read-through and liking it. :)

The Tardis doors opened with a loud squeak and a bang when Rose Tyler popped free of the time ship and stumbled into the street.  
"Thank. Heavens. I couldn't have taken it for one more second," she told no one in particular while taking in her surroundings.  
A second squeak announced the exit of her companion and partner. The Doctor leaned a brown-suited shoulder against the blue wood of the door frame and folded his arms. He watched in silent amusement as Rose took in deep breaths of London’s polluted morning air, fanning her face with her hands as she did so.  
  
Even though his time sense told him it was only April on Earth, Rose wore only the tiniest of dresses. Well, not exactly a dress. The planet they had just left issued specific rules about the make-up of their female citizens’ clothing. It consisted of a single strip of fabric that wrapped artfully around the whole body and was held together by several strings of red leather, leaving a rather astonishing amount of skin exposed. Rose's ensemble was made of a beige linen-like material that felt incredibly soft to the touch, and made her look delicious. Not that she didn’t always look stunning…  But that wasn’t the point. The fact was Rose had not bothered to go through the unravelling process yet… Weeell, he rather hoped she would leave that to him and his other self. Thinking of -  
  
A voice wafted out from somewhere inside the ship. "Rose, the Tardis scanners suggest we go and watch this movie. The one with that horribly unrealistic take on alien life on Europa. You know, the moon? We could sit in the back, laugh ourselves silly, share a popcorn and a few snogs… and maybe a grope. The human experience!”  
  
Rose shot an exasperated look over the Doctor’s shoulder to where an identical man, dressed in blue, had appeared cheekily waggling his eyebrows. His hopeful expression quickly turned into a thoroughly chastened one, even though he wasn’t completely sure what he was being scolded for. Rose huffed and the Doctor in blue pulled his ear. "Would you rather ... do something else?" he asked.  
Rose took another deep breath, filling her lungs with the familiar sense of home and tried to rein in her irritation. It wasn't their fault after all.  
  
"I'm sorry, Doctor," she explained. "All this ... alienness lately has just been so exhausting. Don’t get me wrong, I love it … but we’ve been stumbling from one adventure to the next and I feel like my adrenaline level never dropped back to normal after the incident on Nevas.” The Doctor was about to protest, but Rose steamed right on. ”I just need a day off. Time to do human things. Girl things. We’re not too far from Donna's. So what I'd really like to do is walk over there and drag her out for a bit of mindless shopping."  
  
"Do you want us to join you?" the full Time Lord asked, guessing the answer but still willing to offer.  
Rose appreciated the sentiment. "Nah, you two go and watch your movie. We can meet up later."  
"Right," the Doctor in blue sniffed without his usual manic enthusiasm.

She ignored his disappointed pout, knowing it wouldn’t do her any good to give in now. Human time for the human was a necessary thing once in a while. Besides, Time Lords didn’t pout, so that was that.  
“Don’t worry, I'll signal you when we stop for a bite to eat and you meet us when you feel like it.”  
  
Rose watched them retreat into the Tardis to grab their coats, the part human Doctor having acquired his only days before. Being a similar shape to its twin, it sported a reddish brown colour the Doctor found quite dashing. It toned with the burgundy shirts he liked to combine with his blue suits. Even though the full Time Lord Doctor proclaimed his own Janis Joplin coat to be the best in the universe, Rose had caught him in the wardrobe winking at his reflection while flapping his other self's coat around his body in a rather roughish fashion.  
  
Hiding a grin at the memory, she waited until they were suitably dressed and dapper for their day in town. One Doctor pulled the door shut, the other turned the key. Rose whispered a kiss onto each of their right cheeks and shared a hug with both of them.  
"Be careful," the Doctor in brown insisted, his eyes sincere.  
"Of course," she smiled. "I have Donna to watch over me. She is a force of nature."  
"That she is," he replied, sharing a look with his other self, identical eyebrows raised. Donna hadn’t gotten any less feisty after being subjected to the chameleon arch. The Time Lord consciousness she had gained during the meta-crisis had been conveyed just in time to the part-human Doctor, whose body had absorbed it quite happily.  
  
"See you later." Rose retreated with a little wave before they could utter any more worries about her safety, or go on about her supposed jeopardy-friendliness.  
  
\--<\--@  
  
Spring in London was something else. Special. Even though Rose didn’t live through the long and dark winters anymore, she always appreciated the smell of the fresh pink and white blossoms. They swayed in the soft breeze and showered her once in a while with satiny petals. A tiny laugh of joy escaped her lips. As much as she loved her Doctors, this quiet alone-time did a world of good for her sanity. Rose’s legs were accustomed to regular exercise and covered the distance to Chiswick in no time. Soon she rounded the final corner.  
  
The Noble's little row house sat calmly in its street of similar buildings. The brick facades were alive with a pattern of varying tones of red, changing with the play of sun and clouds. Rose entered the front garden and leaned down to brush her fingers over a handful of lush red tulips that sat in a spot of honour next to the path. A little sparrow, disturbed by her presence, hopped onto a nearby hedge to throw her a reproachful look. Rose winked at it, walked up to the front door and gave the inlayed glass a few firm knocks.  
  
It wasn’t Donna who approached the door in a slow but steady pace. Wilf had given them all a scare the previous year when his foot had gotten stuck under a root on his way down from his hill, making him fall down and break his wrist. He insisted it had just been a little dark, but they all knew his eye sight wasn’t as good as it once had been. Donna had decided to tolerate Sylvia’s nagging and move back in with her family to spend more time with her beloved Grandfather.  
  
Wilf spotted Rose through the pane and broke into a huge grin. He had taken a shine to her when she had first hidden with them in this very house during the Dalek invasion. The door was opened with a flourish and Rose got pulled into a tight hug.  
  
“Didn’t you bring those Doctors of yours?” he asked, releasing her and having a good look at the front garden as if the men in question would suddenly jump out from behind the bushes.  
  
Rose laughed at his antics. “No, I needed a bit of girl-time. I want Donna all to myself today. Is she in?”  
  
Donna came from the kitchen, leafing through a stack of letters in her left hand. “Granddad? I thought I heard … Rose!” She stopped short at the sight of her friend. “What the hell are you wearing?!”  
  
“Oh, this.” Rose brought her hand up to her shoulder, only now sensing that her appearance would look a bit odd to the good people of Earth. After travelling through all of time and space for so long, she hardly even noticed what she was wearing anymore. “We just came back from Tau Ceti.”  
“That rock with the heat and dust and everything?”  
“The same.” Rose half smiled. “This time we stayed there longer so I had to change into the native fashion. It’s quite comfortable”, she said, stroking the fabric.  
“You must be freezing”, Donna snorted. “That strip of nothing is nearly as thin as a Time Lord.”  
Rose’s ears turned pink. “Actually I am wearing a gel that protects my skin from too extreme temperatures. The Doctors found it in a cabinet of the med bay … and rubbed … um applied it in preparation of the trip. Thought it might be useful.”  
Donna rolled her eyes. “You can stop right there, Blondie. I don’t want to know what those old lechers are up to with their paws.”  
Rose glanced in the general direction of Wilf whose eyes were sparkling in merriment.  
  
“Right” she said, changing the topic. “I hope you didn’t have any plans for today ‘cause I really need some human-time, if you don’t mind.”  
“Desperate, huh?” Donna sympathized.  
“A bit, yeah.”  
“MUM!” Donna shouted, making Rose jump at the sudden racket. “I CAN’T DO THE SHOPPING TODAY. I’M GOING OUT.”  
Not waiting for an answer, she grabbed Rose by the elbow, kissed her Grandfather’s cheek, and out the door they went, Rose waving a hasty goodbye.  
  
\--<\--@  
  
They spent their day on Chiswick High Road, ruffling though the shops. Rose couldn’t try on any clothes due to her complicated outfit, so giggling like school girls, they picked a greenish pantsuit with a matching hat and handbag for Donna. Rose found a pair of red Converse with a swirly golden pattern. It reminded her of the sticky notes that cluttered the Tardis console. She also picked a little gift for her Doctors and pocketed everything in her bigger-on-the-inside pouch, patting it with a little smile.  
  
After an extensive stop at the bookshop, they were getting a bit footsore. Aching arms laden with bags and parcels they drifted towards an inviting looking corner café.  
“Let’s get in there, I’m starving,” exclaimed Donna. Rose agreed with an exhausted sigh.  
Through the wide glass front, they could make out tables of different sizes positioned in a circle around a parquet floor. It guided the view to a bar in the background and some more cosy looking sofa areas, everything illuminated by generously-sized windows down the length of the left wall. While Donna went inside to secure them a table, Rose pulled out her sonic and fiddled with the settings. Satisfied, she pressed the button that would broadcast a beacon to the Doctors’ screwdrivers that would lead them to her current position.   
  
Repacking the sonic in her pouch, Rose pressed one shoulder against the door and entered the café. She paused for a moment, looking for her friend, when she heard a barely suppressed snicker from her left, followed by some whispers and a derogatory snort. Following the sound with her eyes, she found a group of three young women watching her … laughing at her unusual clothes .... judging her.  
  
_Whatever_ , Rose thought. She was an Estate girl and used to aspersions. Holding her head high, she crossed the floor to a carpeted section. Her marvellous friend had secured them one of the couch-surrounded tables, probably murdering someone in the process. Smirking, Rose sank into the comfortable cushions. They were pleasant against her exposed skin. She tried to let the lingering uneasiness from the encounter by the door dissolve with the slowly decreasing ache in her feet.  
  
“Sooo, what’s it gonna be?” Donna asked oblivious to Rose’s discomfort, burying her nose in the menu. “Lava Cake is apparently a speciality of the house. What do you think? I haven’t had one in ages.”  
“Sounds gorgeous,” Rose replied.  
  
\--<\--@  
  
The third time Rose glanced over to the other table, Donna noticed.  
"What's that dark look for then?" she asked, frowning.  
"It's nothing. See the girls over there? They were laughing at me earlier, what I’m wearing. I shouldn't let it bother me, but apparently there are some of my old insecurities left, even after all this time," she shrugged.  
Donna barked a laugh. "Rose. You are ten times more worthy than they will ever be ... a hundred times. If they knew what you have done for them and everyone, they would worship the floor beneath your feet."  
Rose gave her half a smile and studied the rug.  
  
Golden rays of sunlight filtered through the side windows, painting dancing spots onto the flooring. Little dust particles floated slowly around like a cloud of scattered stars. Rose calmed down. She relaxed back into her pillows. No way would she let those cows destroy her mood any further. She was a bloody grown-up woman who faced evil things on a regular basis. She could certainly face these shrews. “So,” she uttered with a more sincere smile.  
"That's the spirit", Donna approved.  
  
They talked a bit more about traveling and work. Rose had some fascinating new stories about wondrous worlds she had visited. Donna told her about the guy she had met at work. "I know,” she said, when Rose jerked an eyebrow at that. “But he's nothing like Lance. And I like to think that I learned a thing or two since that time." She went into detail about the amazingness of her crush and Rose zoned out for a bit, watching people passing by on the side street. A sliding noise from the front door alerted her to the presence of another customer.  
  
Donna and Rose turned in time to see the girls at the sneer-table make eyes at the Doctor in brown as he stepped through the door. Standing in a puddle of sunlight, eyes sparkling, he slowly let his gaze have a wander through the room, searching for his companions. However, before he discovered them in their comfy spot, a call from his left distracted him. The bints waved him over and with a confused frown he complied. There was a short conversation and one girl actually fluttered her lashes at him, making Rose roll her eyes. Although, seeing the Doctor politely refuse a seat appeased her inner hag.  
  
Eventually he turned his gaze in her direction and a smile lit up his face at the sight of her. Her answering beam was just as bright. The Doctor closed the small distance to her quickly and Rose stood up to catch him as he enclosed her in a tight hug. His fingers slipped around her back, finding sensitive spots of soft skin beneath her mesh of cloth. Both she and the Doctor squeezed their eyes shut, relieved to be back in each other’s presence. After a long moment Rose pulled back slightly to place a sweet kiss on his mouth. The Doctor, intoxicated by the feeling of her warm body, soon deepened it into a full on snog. "Oi, get a room!" Donna disrupted the awkward silence, her hand kneading a tissue into a projectile to throw at them. Reluctantly, with one last lick at Rose’s lower lip, the Doctor let go. "Mhmm, chocolate," he exclaimed, making their friend snort in amused exasperation.    
  
After he had shared a friendly hug with Donna, Rose pulled him down into the seat next to her. "That gained you an extra round of dirty looks," Donna winked.  
  
Rose allowed herself a little smirk. Now that the Doctor was back by her side she had fully regained her equilibrium.  
  
The Doctor, who was busy inspecting Rose's cake, trying a spoonful, raised his head. "What?"   
"Oh, it's nothing", she assured him.  
  
He gave her a stern look. ”What happened?" Rose sighed. "Oh, alright. That lot over there laughed at my outfit earlier. A bit too alien for them, I’ll wager. But they made me feel a bit self-conscious.”  
The Doctor took another look at her. “Why would anyone do that? There is nothing wrong with it.” He leaned in to whisper, “I think it looks rather fetching.”  
“Because,” Donna explained, “people are narrow-minded and perhaps a bit envious, especially if they happen to be silly girls sitting alone at a table, desperate for male attention.”  
  
The Doctor felt something tighten within him. How dare these petty females insult his Rose! He pulled his feet under him and was about to give the little cows an earful about manners, when Rose laid a calming hand onto his arm. “Really, I’m fine now. They’re not worth getting all worked up over.” He searched her eyes. When he found sincerity and acceptance, he nodded, swallowing his rant and decided on a different strategy.  
  
\--<\--@  
  
“What did you do with the other Doctor,” Rose asked him several minutes later, shivering a little when his deft fingers worked their way under her hair and up her neck.  
“I raced him. We took different routes from the cinema. He probably got lost,” the Doctor smirked, feeling superior. He was massaging the back of Rose’s head now, fingers tangling the strands of her hair. Some hidden petals from her morning walk tumbled to her shoulders, making the Doctor smile. Rose purred.  
  
Donna, trying to ignore that little scenario, exclaimed “Let’s hope he didn’t find himself in any trouble. It’s been such a nice day.”  
  
“Nope, there he comes now,” Rose proclaimed happily. The Doctor in blue just wandered past the side windows, eyeing his sonic screwdriver. He was still following the beacon when he suddenly sensed his other self’s presence and looked up. They seemed to share a short telepathic conversation and the outside Doctor’s face hardened noticeably. He nodded through the window and rounded the corner to the front of the café.  
Stepping inside he stood still for a moment pretending to search for them.  
  
To his left the girlish voices fell silent as their owners gaped at the newcomer. Disbelieving looks were shot at the man next to Rose and the Doctor in blue. Sensing a second chance, one girl left her chair and swayed her hips over to chat him up. The Doctor graciously talked with her, staying friendly but reserved. Apparently the girl took that as a challenge, as she became more and more flirty. When she touched his sleeve and tried to take his hand however, he pulled away.  
“Sorry, but that hand is reserved. Forever.”  
  
Looking flustered at this implicit refusal, she followed his look to Rose who winked at him.  
“Rose Tyler," he gesticulated, "the bravest, kindest, most compassionate, stubborn, and determined woman I have ever met ... and the most beautiful.”  
The girl flushed deeply at that, muttered something apologetically, and returned quickly to her seat. The Doctor didn’t watch her go. Instead, he strode through the café, circled the table, and slid into the bay next to his Rose. His other self smiled proudly at him while Donna dabbed at a tear.  
  
"Thank you," Rose whispered gratefully, cupping his face in one palm and pressing a lingering kiss onto his lips.  
  
\--<\--@  
  
For the rest of the day, they were all in a carefree mood. Donna and Rose giggled about the Doctors' descriptions of the movie they had watched, both men one-upping the other in their indignation about the limits of human imagination about alien life. "There are endless forms of colonisations and infinite forms of life out there and they managed to get them all wrong."  
  
Rose found a piece of popcorn under the blue lapel of the Doctor she currently cuddled and proceeded to eat it. A moan escaped her lips at the taste of the buttery treat, making her male companions twitch.  
  
Donna showed off her purchases and asked Rose to do the same, so she pulled out her new shoes. As they came into view, both Doctors doubled over in laughter, pointing and gasping. At Rose's puzzled look, they explained how back when they were still one person, the Doctor had sent an enquiry to the Converse manufacturers. Apparently, the Tardis hadn't translated it, so the staff mistook the message for an actual request. Rose now owned a pair of red shoes that said in gold circles "I was quite miffed to discover that there is no banana pattern among your wide range of offers. Please rectify this as soon as possible."  
"Well, at least they’re pretty," she laughed.  
  
When Rose put them back into her pouch, her fingers brushed the other little package hidden inside. Waiting until Donna excused herself for the loo, she pulled it out to show the guys. With a little smirk and under their curious looks, she opened the casing. It revealed a tiny pair of scissors with rounded tops. Rose fondled one of the leather straps on her dress-like clothing, counting the seconds until the penny dropped.  
  
They hurriedly left money on the table and a note for their friend that promised they would visit again very soon.  
  
When Donna stepped out of the restroom all she could see were flapping coats disappearing through the swinging café door, and the bunch of girls gawking after the trio with expressions of jealousy and awe.  
  
She rolled her eyes.  
  
\--<\--@  
  
Over the next few weeks Donna noticed a rising tendency to strappy little excuses for outfits among the young females of Chiswick.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> You just read my very first fanfic, congratulations to us both. :D
> 
> See Rose in her outfit: https://rose--nebula.deviantart.com/art/Alien-Clothing-683885193


End file.
